I am getting caught up from being out of town and I wanted to share a re-posting of one of my favorite tierneycreates blog posts – The Empty Drawer (09/30/15). The sweet memory it evokes, makes it one of my favorite posts.
At some point I would like to update with you all where I am on my “minimalism” journey that I have discussed in many older posts including this post.
For now, here is “re-run” (smile).
Sometimes love is shown in small sweet ways…
This post is an addendum to the post The Space in Which We Live in which I share how Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing inspired me to downsize my unused and unneeded clothes and get rid of our second dresser in the bedroom.
Since I got rid of the dresser I used, I needed somewhere to store my socks and undies. I convinced my husband to give me one drawer of his tightly packed dresser. He groaned a little at first but realized how much space it would free up in the bedroom to only have one dresser. So he reluctantly cleared out a bottom drawer in his dresser for me.
I jokingly said: “Might I have a top drawer?” A day later I discovered my stuff had been moved to a top drawer, all neatly organized by my husband.
Surprisingly, it did not take me long to get used to living with one drawer.
Then the other day, I got quite a surprise: I was opening my top drawer quickly and not paying attention and accidentally opened the drawer below it.
AND IT WAS EMPTY!
My husband, without saying anything, had somehow cleared a second drawer for me, right below my newly beloved solitary top drawer. I now have TWO DRAWERS!

Recently I have been listening to a wonderful book on CD from the library called The Empowering Women Gift Collection (1997) which is a collection of lectures by the motivational and inspirational speakers Louise Hay, Christiane Northrup, Caroline Myss, and Susan Jeffers. Although this CD is from 1997 most of the inspirational information is still pertinent.
One of the speakers discusses in her lecture that men may show their love differently than women. Basically they might show their love by fixing the faucet for you rather than getting all sweet and mushy, etc.
I definitely consider this unexpected and “unrequested” second EMPTY DRAWER an act of love!
What a sweet hubby! Marie Kondo’s book is on my list of books to read. Right now I’m reading “Organizing for the Creative Person” by Dorothy Lehmkuhl and Dolores Cotter Lamping.
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I listened to the audiobook and Marie Kondo is wonderful, though you might find her a little OCD at times. She is very sweet in how she honors everything she gives up – she thanks each item for having served her and then lets it go. I am going to look into Organizing for the Creative Person, thanks for the book idea.
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Wow! He is a keeper! We only have 1 dresser in our bedroom but really were blessed when we bought this house; the guy who had it built had retired from a career as an electrical engineer (think precision) and got bored so he took up home inspections as a second career. He gathered ideas from all the homes he inspected and put them together to create a house that has so much storage space that we’ll never use it all. In other words, I have lots of drawers space in our closets too!
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Thanks and that is some serious storage you have! Sounds like a great house design! The funny thing is the more stuff we have gotten rid of the less storage we need – I have actually donated whole sets of storage containers to the charity thrift shops too!
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Very sweet man you have. Thoughtful. Men definitely have a different language. When I worked, my husband got me coffee and drew my bath for me every morning…it was just something he did. I totally understand the fix the faucet thing and the drawer thing. I appreciate those love gestures.
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Thanks and it sounds like you have a great partner in your life too!😄
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I do!
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Tierney. I just love this. So beautiful and kind. Love it! And he quilts!!! 💜💜💜
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I too read the “Magical Power of Tidying Up” I think of her advice often when I pick up items, “when you hold it in your hands, does it make you happy?”. It’s good advice and I’m weeding through my house slowly. I cannot, however, brag about completely emptying any drawers — great job!
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Thanks and yes it is definitely a differently way to look at your “stuff”. Hey – at least you are working through stuff you do not need, any progress is PROGRESS! 🙂
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That’s so nice of him 🙂
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I know! I consider him a nice person but I did not realize the depth of his thoughtfulness!
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That was very thoughtful especially since you didn’t ask and how you had to find it on your own!
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I absolutley loved this post! It reminded me of the 5 Love Languages (probably not the exact title of the book). You’ve definitely got a keeper and rumor has it that he is extemely brave and strong too!
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Awww thanks so much – yes I am going to keep him! 🙂
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That certainly was a sweet gesture. We downsized two years ago. Love living in a smaller space.
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Lovely. My husband also *does” for me, in so many ways. And he can be sweet and mushy. 🙂
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Kind partners are a wonderful thing! Thanks for your comment and glad you have a sweetie too!
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I found the Kon-Mari book useful, too. Mostly I applied it in my studio 😉
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